Let me tell you that Neighbours has been a lifeline for me this week. I won’t bore you with all of my tales of woe from the last seven days, aside to say that among the things the universe sent to try me were a broken boiler and TWO flat tyres (on different days). There were a few nights this week where sitting to watch Neighbours was my only chance to decompress, while I watched characters whose lives are more of a hot mess than mine. So let’s get on with talking about all those hot messes…
Vera Is a Problem and Has A Problem
The share house residents are still reeling from the news that Vera has sold her house with a view to moving in with them. When they press her, she admits that she has a gambling problem and that she sold her house to pay off her debts.
I know that Vera is essentially a comedy character, but that doesn’t mean that every story that surrounds her has to be a massive laugh, and I have to say that the way this was treated rubbed me up the wrong way a little bit. If your gambling habit is so bad you’ve had to sell a house to cover it, then you have a serious addiction that needs addressing. Instead, it was treated as this week’s comedy plot line, which I found rather odd.
Sadie even says, “If it’s any consolation, we thought you had a drinking problem,” which seems like an absolutely mad take on any kind of addiction, especially when there’s another character currently going through a different addiction storyline with a distinctly different tone to it. I’m probably overthinking it, but it seemed very odd to me.
All that aside, Vera moving into the share house is bound to be quite funny, she’s already filled the house with grotesque cat statues and drawn up a roster for who’s cooking their enforced “family” meals. I can’t wait to see more of her antics, but I hope her problem is treated a little more gently.
Vic’s Love Triangle Gets Messy
Vic is still the focal point of a Ramsay Street love triangle, as Melanie and Jane are both still hung up on him. He and Jane have decided to make a go of it, and he’s put an offer in on a pub that’s not too far away, meaning that he’ll be in the vicinity for a while. When Melanie hears he bought the pub, she’s thrilled, and it’s clear she already knew about his interest in the place. Jane balks, and wants to know how Melanie knew, so it all comes out that Vic and Melanie were on a date when Jane ran into them at the Water Hole.
The revelation throws Jane, as she’s been the victim of Vic’s infidelities in the past, and she hits pause on their relationship, giving Vic time to figure out which one of them he wants to be with.
Meanwhile, Melanie has decided that because she’s been rejected by a bloke she barely knows, and only went on one date with, that now she has to leave town rather than see him with someone else. This is such an infantile overreaction, it’s ridiculous. If she’s going to do online dating, then she’s going to have to get used to a lot of single dates with people who then don’t want anything to do with her afterwards – it’s the nature of the beast. Leaving town is incredibly drastic.
Nicolette gets wind of Vic’s one date (I really think we need to remember that’s all it was) with Melanie and also chooses to overreact in a comically ridiculous way. She’s absolutely livid that her dad was attracted to Melanie in any way and rants about it to Aaron. She even says, “I’m not letting my mum come second to someone who drives a drinks van,” to the husband of someone who drove a drinks van, and whose picture is still on the side of said drinks van. She’s unhinged.
It’s bothering her so much that she eventually goes to talk to Melanie, warning her off her dad by telling her that Vic is incapable of being faithful and that Melanie isn’t his type anyway. Melanie looks crushed by this – I’m not even the biggest fan of Melanie, but even I thought this was too much. I love Nicolette’s salty side, but this was plain cruel, and it’s also none of her damn business who her dad decides to be with.
It still baffles me why everyone is so invested in a man who looks like an Aldi Doctor Strange, and has the emotional depth and availability of a teaspoon.
Terese Confesses
Terese’s two big secrets – that she’s drinking again, and that she’s responsible for the gas leak – become increasingly difficult to cover up as Susan sees Paul leaving Terese’s house early in the morning. She’s straight over there like a shot to get all the tea, and Terese goes along with her assumption that they’ve been back together in secret for weeks, because it’s better than her knowing the truth.
Paul is hellbent on helping Terese to hide what she did and, let’s face it, this is relationship catnip to him. Terese is in a crisis and vulnerable, and Paul can help her cover it all up by lying and scheming, and probably throwing money at it for her. It’s literally his number one favourite thing to do, and he even volunteers to confess to crashing into the gas pipe himself.
Susan calls a meeting with the, apparently, five residents of Eirini Rising to announce that the delivery driver who has been blamed for the accident has been fired. Paul steps up to take the blame instead, but Terese beats him to it and confesses in front of everyone.
Susan is furious, and props to her for telling Terese that she’s not mad about the drinking, she’s mad about the way she’s handled the situation and lied to everyone. Terese goes to turn herself in at the police station in order to clear the delivery driver’s name, but for some reason she comes back to work as though there’s no issue whatsoever. Susan has the uncomfortable job of telling her she needs to resign. Did Terese seriously think she could do that and keep her job? What would she have done if it was Karl or Susan who’d put everyone’s lives in danger like that? Of course she has to resign.
She has a lovely chat with Krista, who suggests a rehab facility, which Terese agrees to go to. I’m enjoying how the characters are rallying round Terese and not judging her, and I think this storyline has been handled well and with sensitivity – it’s just a shame the writers don’t treat all addictions with the same empathy.
Felix Wafts Out of Erinsborough
JJ continues to be an absolute slice this week, as he sends his biological father into exile. I’ll admit it’s slightly more complicated than that, but that’s what it boils down to. I seriously can’t cope with this kid.
After Felix offers to be the sperm donor for Cara and Remi’s baby, their family dynamic kind of implodes, especially since Felix has decided to move in with Andrew, so they’re now neighbours.
The Varga-Murphys seem to fluctuate wildly between getting on quite well with Felix and going to barbecues with him, and arguing with each other about his proximity to their lives. I’ll admit it’s not ideal that he’s now living on the street, but they’ve said no to his sperm and agreed to let the poor guy live his life, so why they can’t do that is a little bit beyond me.
JJ seems to be enjoying getting to know Felix again and spending a bit more time with him, but after he sees how on edge it’s making Cara and Remi, he decides to bluntly ask Felix to leave town. Not to move out of the street and maybe find a job a little further afield to give them all some space, but to leave town.
Is it me or is this completely unreasonable? It’s not up to any of the Varga-Murphys where Felix lives, and running him out of town away from his only family and friends seems incredibly cruel to me, especially with how much of a wet blanket Felix is these days.
And being the total wet wipe that he is, Felix gives in immediately and takes a job as the groundskeeper of a church, sadly wafting out of Erinsborough for good. It was kind of pointless him coming back at all, if you ask me – what an anticlimax. All he did was flap sadly around like an old grey shirt on a washing line, offer to be the Santa of Sperm and then depart. What a waste of time.
A Few Random Notes
As usual, here are a few random notes I took while watching Neighbours this week:
- Are we supposed to know who this hotel guest is?
- Melanie didn’t want Jane to think she was “cutting her lunch?” Is that a thing normal humans say?
- Eating soup on a tram with your coat on looks miserable.
- I love how Andrew is just absolutely A-OK with JJ banishing his brother.
